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| Feeling heat, BJP does a U-turn | | Beef row | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Sept 20: The anti-Hindu and out-and-out communal cow killing and beef eating propaganda in Kashmir has created a serious situation in the state. In the valley, all the Kashmiri Muslim political, secessionist and civil society groups have upped their ante against the ruling PDP, notwithstanding the fact that its president Mehbooba Mufti has also endorsed the provocative demand seeking repeal of the 1932 law on cow killing and beef eating. They have accused the PDP of furthering the RSS's anti-Muslim agenda in Kashmir to stay put in power and asked the PDP-BJP government to respect the sentiments of Kashmiri Muslims by not putting any restriction on cow killing and beef eating. So much so, they have asked the Kashmiri people to slaughter cows in large numbers on September 24 across the Kashmir Valley, including Lal Chowk, Srinagar.
As expected, the movement in Kashmir has created a volcanic situation in Jammu, with several organizations attacking the BJP and asking it to ensure that the relevant laws on cow killing and beef eating are enforced in letter and spirit and those defying the law are brought to justice. All this has put the BJP, which wants to remain in power at whatever cost, in an awkward situation. What has added to the problem of the BJP all the more is the threat of economic blockade to Kashmir given by the VHP, an organ of the RSS. The fact is that the BJP has finally started feeling the heat.
On Saturday, BJP leader and MLC Ramesh Arora, who also happens to be parbhari of Kashmir, came out with a strong statement on the issue. He threatened a violent movement in Jammu in case the bill against ban on beef was tabled in forthcoming Assembly session and stated that the BJP will not allow anyone to dilute the law on the subject and see to it that those who violated the law were punished. "We will in no way allow anybody to table the bill against the beef ban. We will resort to violence," he said. "Ban on beef was old law. Now the court has directed the authorities to implement it and they have to do it. Muslims of Kashmir should respect sentiments of Jammu region," he further said, adding that the BJP fully supported the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) threat of 2008-like agitation in case bill against ban on beef is tabled in Assembly.
What he said could be construed as a complete U-turn. It bears recalling that during the election campaign in Kashmir, Arora had repeatedly said that a vote for the BJP would mean the rise of a situation that would "help Islam further flourish in Kashmir Valley" and render the Armed Forces Special Powers Act redundant". Besides, he had reassured the Kashmiri people that the BJP would not tinker with Article 370, as it "respected" the Kashmiri sentiments. In other words, the BJP had assured and reassured the Kashmiri Muslim society that it would support all of its actions, including steps it would take to promote further the Islamic cause in the Valley.
Now that Arora has spoken for and on behalf of the party on the issue that has pitted the Kashmiri Muslims against the Hindu community across the nation, it is hoped that the BJP would rise to the occasion and ensure that no private member's bill on the issue was taken up in the upcoming session of the assembly. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was right when he said the other day in Delhi that the issue was sensitive and that it, if not handled properly, would result in country-wide protests. |
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